This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
by JustJensThoughts
Summary: Taking place a century after Style, Sookie finds their way of life threatened. Who would do this? I do not own the characters. They belong to Charlaine Harris.


I stood frozen admist the burning of my livlihood, my home, my Queendom. The screams pierced the air around me and blood dripped from my fingertips into the every growing pool of it in which I stood as the very air ignited around me. Ash blew into my eyes and hair blew across my face real as day, with my surroundings in slow motion surreal as night.

How did it come to this? How did everything become so broken? I felt we had done everything right. I had tried to be fair and be true. My rule was firm, but I relied more upon the love of my subjects than their fear, something I had always believed made someone a great ruler. We held our Kingdoms longer than most, having ruled for a solid century and I had taken it as a good omen.

So, how did it come to this?

A bloody hand clutched me by the ankle, jarring me from my shock.

"Your majesty!" She called, her voice quavering with panic, looking up at me from the ground.

I gasped as my hands flew to her. I took my once proud and now terrified assistant gently by the elbows, the only part of her I thought was uninjured, to help her to her feet.

"Verbena!" Panic and adrenaline rocketed through my veins as my right hand slipped out from under her, having been met only by a stump where her arm should be. It was slick with blood and sharp where the bone portruded from the gore. She lost her balance as I lost my grip and she hit the floor with a splash of red around her.

I winced for her and scooped her up once again, with an arm behind her waist for better support. I steadied her and her expression was grateful. She visibly regained a bit of her composure as the bleeding from her wound slowed.

I actually screamed and jumped when the large harpoon like weapon shot through her chest, splattering me in her blood. I didn't close my eyes quickly enough and my vision turned red, the metallic taste of blood fresh on my tongue. Our eyes locked and then the grappling hook opened and YANK! She was pulled backwards with an ear piercing scream and both our hands shot towards each other.

"Verbena!"

She reached for safety and I tried to save my friend, but the quickness with which she was snatched up rivaled my own speed by far. She disappeared from my sight, dragged back into the smoke, but I could still hear her screams clear as a bell. It took me a second after she was gone before I realized I could still hear the screams, because they were coming from me.

I had not felt so helpless or scared since I was human. These feelings are not for someone of my stature, yet I almost shook with fear as I stared at the empty space where my friend had stood only seconds before. Lost and disillusioned; like I were in a horror movie scene, a red tear made its way down my cheek.

A large pair of hands came out of the din and snatched me, making me scream at the top of my lungs.

"Sookie!" Eric's eyes widened in recognition and his sigh of relief was palpable. He secured his arms around me and pulled me to his chest and held me ever so tight for a brief moment.

"Thank the ancient Gods you're okay!" He kissed me fiercely on the forehead and handed me a short sword, and I was grateful, feeling more ready for whatever came next. This was good, I looked at the blade beginning to feel much more myself. The weight of it was reassuring in my fist. He lead me forward, hand in hand.

"Eric, why is this happening?" I yelled over the horrors taking place around us.

"Down!" He pulled me to the ground just as another one of the grappling hooks missed me by centimeters. He stood and grabbed me by the hand, walking with purpose.

"I don't know, Lover, but one thing is for sure-" His sentence stopped abruptly as one of the barbaric hooks shot through his shoulder and he howled as I was painted again with the blood of one of my loved ones. We locked eyes just as I had done with Verbena.

"No!" I jumped forward with a quickness I'd never had before and brought the blade down on the rope just as it began to take him. The sudden lack of force put him on his butt.

"Get up!" I screamed at him as I saw the shadows begin to enclose on us. "Eric, move your Viking ass! They're here! We have to go!" I yanked at him with all my vampiric strength as the shadows took form more clearly with each step, and it was still like pushing on a brick wall. Finally, he budged and I let my maker use me to support himself and I heaved him to his feet.

"What now? Where do we go?!" I screeched, almost panicking before reaching mental clarity and remembering the key to our survival.

"I do not know." He was looking a bit hopeless. "I am sorry, my Wife."

"No! Don't you Dare give up on me! We are not dead yet!" I growled fiercely and I pulled him towards the door leading to my panic room, hidden behind a fireplace as the shadows crept closer.

If only we could make it to my panic room, everything would be alright. Their speed was alarming and I glanced nervously back and forth between my injured husband and the door so close, but so far! We weren't going to make it.

100 years earlier-

I landed on my ass with a painful thump and though I was vampire and though I had gotten a lot better at controlling my vampiric emotions, that did hurt and sometimes said vampiric emotions flared.

"This is bullshit!" I declared, pulling myself back up.

"It is important that you learn this, Sookie." Eric countered.

I laughed as I rolled my eyes, all attitude; fangs fully extended.

"I'm never gonna need to know any of this! I'm out." I tossed the sword at his feet in frustration and spun on my heel to leave.

"Come back, Sookie." He hung his head and said it to the ceiling. Perhaps he was more annoyed with me than I was with him.

"Why?" I asked stubbornly.

He sighed and folded himself on the floor gracefully, beckoning me into his lap. It was an offer I could not refuse. I strided quickly to him, angry, but attempting to remain dignified.

He held his arms out and as I sat down he folded me into him. I felt my anger dissipate once I was in his arms. Something I found equally comforting and annoying.

He stroked my hair and put his lips to my ear, knowing that nothing calmed me like affection did.

"I feel you should know these things, Lover, because you are a queen. It is also a very big part of my human heritage and I want to share that with you."

"It would make you proud?" I asked.

"I am always proud of you, Sookie. But yes, it would make me proud and it would give me peace of mind to know that you can defend yourself." He kissed my cheek.

"I do have guards for that." I smiled a genuine smile when I rolled my eyes this time.

"That is true, but what if someone gets through your guards? Or here is a more unpleasant thought; what if your guards are the ones you end up needing protecting from?"

I shuddered a bit at the idea. He was right; that was unpleasant.

"Besides, a Queen should be trained in the art of sword fighting. It's only right." He shrugged.

"Did the queens know how to fight when you were human?" I asked dubiously.

"Only the ones who survived a siege." He answered lightly, but what he said wasn't lightly taken. Those words stuck with me.

"Okay." I sighed, almost regretting my agreement. "Let's do this."

I stood and straightened my attire. Eric handed me my weapon and smiled before cutting down to brass tacks.

I focused my energy to balance my chi, grounding myself where I stood. Eric was teaching me that so no one could knock me over in a fight.

"Alright. From the top." He said, raising his weapon and I raised mine. I nodded to show I was ready and he brought his sword down.

-present day

CLASH! I dropped my maker and raised my sword just in time to block the swing that was meant for Eric. I twisted my blade smoothly as though it were an extension of my arm, unarming him and I ran my enemy through. Sword still in his gut I spun to the left, dodging his buddy's blade and crashed my elbow into his face. I completed my turn and pulled the sword out slashing the guy on the other side of broken nose guy. He let out a terrible cry and I swung again, removing his head and ceasing his screams.

I jumped back for a better vantage point. There had been three in a line and those behind them stepped forward, seemingly unconcerned with stepping on the bodies of their felled brethren. I wrinkled my nose in distaste. Their dark masks with threatening visages showed no human emotion, though the fallen stayed down, so they weren't vampires, either.

"What are you? What do y'all want?" I screamed at them, but there came no response and more moved forward.

"Fine." I said simply. "I'll kill you all." I dropped my fangs.

"Sookie." Eric called, standing by my side. I felt relief he was up, but was soon worried. He looked waxy and unbalanced. He clearly wasn't well and his shoulder hadn't healed. I began to wonder what could've been on that hook. Poison of some sort. Yet, what poison would work on a vampire?

The next row of three advanced on us and the first took a swing at Eric which he barely dodged and fell over. I looked back into the crowd of opponents and counted 20.

"Stay down." I told my husband. "I can handle this."

I tripped the one that swung at Eric and took his head as well with my blade. I used perfectly synchronized footwork to begin cutting a bloody swath through my enemies. Once I was in the middle of the crowd, number eight kicked the back of my knee and I felt my balance waver. If I went down in there... I wouldn't get back up.

-100 years ago

"No!" Eric said in frustration as I got back up and regained my stance.

"If your opponent knocks you off your feet then you're dead!" He said, demonstrating by pushing my shoulder hard to prove he could knock me over.

"You fall, you die. That's it! Brace yourself, ground your feet properly, like I taught you!" He reached down to adjust my stance, moving my legs where he wanted them.

"I'm trying!" I yelled at him.

"No, you aren't. You're rushing through so you can finish. I feel your frustration, but you won't learn anything that way. Concentrate. Steady your emotions." He was much more calm by the time he finished speaking. Another demonstration, no doubt.

I glared at him

"Go on." He said perfectly calm now. "Close your eyes, feel your center and let the world fall away. There is only you. I am not frustrating you, you aren't angry. You are perfectly content. You are blissful, even."

I took in a deep, unnecessary breathe, dropping everything around me. When I let my breath out, there was truly only me. I looked up at the big, blue sky and smelled the fresh air. There were small puffy clouds of pure white and the sun shone merrily, beaming brighter than I'd ever seen. I glanced around at the meadow I stood in. Flat and green and beautiful.

Vines reached out of the earth and wrapped around my feet, connecting me to nature. I felt the sun soak into my skin and travel downward making my skin glow, warming me through and through. The tingly sensation worked it's way through me, putting me in a trance. Connecting me to the Mother; the Goddess. It reached my feet and continued straight into the ground.

There was a ripple of golden light in a circle around me that ran infinitely outward. Flowers grew before my very eyes by the thousands. The ground beneath my feet began to shake violently around me and a few hundred meters in front of me the earth broke.

Though there was no crevice of destruction. Rather rock and earth shot upwards, growing for a thousand feet before grass and trees and flowers also grew on the new mountain. I felt the magic in my eyes, coursing through my veins to my very core.

I smiled in awe and turned to see a river begin to flow behind me and these sights were collectively the most beautiful place I had seen. I laughed out loud, because I knew this was beyond what Eric had wanted to show me. Perhaps a risidual trait of my fae ancestry? I wasn't completely sure, but I did know, without a doubt, that I had connected to the earth and made this place. I found my center.

I opened my eyes and Eric rushed me, sword raised. In a series of lithe movements, I twisted my sword, unarming him and slid my foot behind his knee, using my hand on his shoulder to force him to the ground. I put my sword at his throat and he smiled wide, having realized I defeated him.

-Present Day

I pushed my fear aside and grounded myself, filling myself with the absolute certainty that I was going to win and they were going to lose. No. They were going to pay. For taking my friends, injuring my husband and ruining my home. I decided right then and there to keep one, just one alive.

Having grounded myself, I threw my blade up, blocking the mace aimed at my face. He kicked at my ribs and I took it, being the lesser of two evils. He was stronger than I had thought and I grunted as he landed the blow, pissing me off. I hissed and I heard him chuckle. I forced our blades apart and kicked him back, landing my foot in his gut and up into the air his weapon went. I spun and kicked him in the face this time and I caught his weapon on the fall as he hit the ground.

I used the two weapons to fight two at a time and within the minute, I had won. I sat crouched, looking for any stragglers, arms outstretched, a weapon still in each hand. Nothing got up and nothing came out of the smoke and shadows.

The remainder of my security came rushing in, surrounding Eric and I. I put a boot on mace guys' face and called them over.

"This one is still alive. Tie him up. I need answers."

"But your majesty.." I held up a hand for silence.

"Secure him in my panic room. I don't want the police getting ahold of him. They couldn't handle him, anyway." I stared at the unconscious form with distaste. "Who's laughing now?" I mocked him even knowing that he couldn't hear me. Yet.

They followed my orders as the others put Eric on a stretcher. I approached him and became terrified. He was shaking and I thought he might be physically sick.

"Sookie?" He asked.

"I'm here." I took his hand.

"It's poison."

"Poison? Vampires can't get sick." I said reasonably, denying the evidence in front of my face. Nothing could happen to Eric.

"I can feel it." His voice shook. "I can smell it. Find out what it is." He said never opening his eyes. He must be in immense pain.

"I will." I swore to him.

"Take him to medical and start having fresh blood tranfused into him and somebody get Dr. Ludwig on the phone! Now!" I kissed his large hand as they wheeled him away.

As he exited, the door behind burst open with police chatter as they bustled in and went straight to work. I didn't need to ask who called them, my security system took care of that. The smoke began to clear and the visibility was a relief.

I approached the Sherriff and put on my friendliest smile.

"Hello, Sherriff Bellefluer. What brings you by at such an hour?" I asked.

He put his hands on his gun belt and chuckled.

"Well, Mrs. Northman, it appears you've had an intruder."

He turned around and seeing the carnage I had dealt with wiped the smile off his face. "What happened here?"

" I defended my home." I told him with my head held high.

"And then some." He pushed his hat up a bit, brows crunched incredulously and kneeled by his photographers to get a better look.

"Why did these people attack you?" He asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me, actually." I raised my brows inquiringly.

"You don't know them?" He asked.

"I've never seen them in my life."

"You're sure?"

"Way sure. Also, I don't think they're people."

I felt comfortable saying that, because it had been a full century since vampires and other supes came out of the coffin, so to speak.

"What makes you say that?" His expression reminded me of his great great-grandfather, Detective Andy Bellefluer. He was a good man; albeit a pain in my ass, but a good man.

"They were fast and strong. Their movements were more feline than homosapien." I stared at their corpses.

"Vampire?" He asked.

"Definitely not. They died too easily. Though they were obviously too much for my security team."

"Then who did all this?" He motioned to the pile of body parts with a pen. One of his men nearby turned and ran to throw up. The sheriff had been in the game a long time and even he looked queasy.

"I did." I told him.

"Yourself?" He raised his forehead in shock.

"Well, I had weapons." I shrugged.

"I see. You're a lethal lady, you know that?"

I chuckled. "Yes, Sir. I do."

I felt a pang in my chest and almost went to my knees. Eric was in a lot of pain. Pain was a sign you weren't dead, so I swallowed my fear as though nothing were happening, but my conversation.

"And where was your husband through all of this?"

"He was here for all of it. He was injured and he's being tended to."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Tell him the department wishes him a speedy recovery."

Anthony was not only more tolerant of vampires than his ancestors, he actually got along with us famously. He grew up around our kind and was close with my kin.

"Oh, he'll be happy to hear that. I'll tell him you said so!" I smiled genially.

"How is your grandpa?" I asked. His grandpa, Andrew Bellefluer III had been a young boy on my knee just a few decades earlier.

"Grandpa Andy is fading fast. He's old and the cancer is spreading, but he's in good spirits. He asks about you often."

I saw Dr. Ludwig behind him and I pivoted so the fireplace concealing my hidden room was to his back and the Dr. slipped inside.

"Oh, that is too sweet! I will call ok him tomorrow evening, if that's alright."

"That would be wonderful. Mr. Compton is coming by tomorrow, as well."

'Not Bill." I said only to myself.

"I think it'll do him good to see the both of you." Anthony smiled wide.

Great, can't let down a dying man. Bill was their Great times like ten grandfather. I don't hate Bill, we just don't get along all that well. A hundred years ago, I was head over heels for him, but I'm not a silly human girl anymore and I can see everything wrong about him and his views. To be truthful, his betrayal still stung when I thought about it. Bill was my first everything, including the deepest cut, so I try to avoid him as much as possible. That proves difficult when he lives in your queendom and the same small town.

I forced my annoyance down where it belonged.

"Well, you tell him to count on my visit, alright?" I smiled wider.

"I will. Well, I had better get workin." He tipped his hat, but stopped me when I tried to leave.

"Mrs. Northman?"

"Yes?"

"I don't suppose there were any survivors?" He hinted as if there were one left he hadn't seen. Of course, there was.

"Unfortunately not. I would love to know the reason behind this." I said regretfully.

He nodded and I waited for him to turn his back before I slipped into my panic room. It also was kind of a cave. I went there to be alone sometimes.

Today was different, because behind the seemingly solid wall, my husband screamed as Dr. Ludwig was standing on a chair bent over him yelling obscenities about holding still.

My fangs dropped of their own accord. They did that a lot.

"Hey! What're you doing to him?!" I demanded.

" I only started my exam. He was already like this. Put your fangs away. In any case, I don't need to look any further. It's poison, for sure." She stepped down.

"But vampires can't get sick." I argued against my own thoughts out loud.

"Well, he is." She gracelessly threw a thimb over her shoulder at my obviously ill husband.

"Well, what can we do?" I asked anxiously.

"I don't even know what it is!" She sighed.

"Okay, how do we find out what it is?" I was losing patience.

"Beats me." She shrugged with attitude.

"Well, I suggest you figure it out." I said darkly and dropped my fangs of my own will this time.

"Are you threatening me?" She asked angrily, but I could smell her fear.

"I'm certainly not asking." I growled.

She sighed heavily. "I suppose I could draw some blood and run it through the system. See if anything comes up."

"Get to it." I told her.

"Well, I haven't got the proper equipment here! We'll need a centrifuge."

"Spinny thing you put blood tubes in?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'll have one here within the hour." I assured her. She nodded again and left the room. I waved one of my men over and gave him instructions to get the centrifuge to us. He assured me it would be done and left as well.

"Sookie." Eric called weakly.

I went to his side and took him by the hand, leaning my elbow on the bed I stroke his hair.

"Hi." I smiled down at him.

"Will I die?" He asked.

"Not while I'm around." I pressed my lips gently to his. When I pulled away I let my face linger ever so close to his. He was sweating which scared me quite a bit.

"You shouldn't." He struggled for words.

"Shouldn't what?"

"Kiss me." He answered.

"Well, last time I checked, you liked it when I kiss you."

"What if it spreads? The poison."

"We'll not die together, then. Dr. Ludwig is going to fix you." I smiled reassuringly.

"And if she can't?" He raised a brow. Always the skeptic.

"I haven't exactly given her a choice." I told him. "If you don't live, neither does she." I said sternly.

"No." He shook his head. "You haven't got that in you. I love that about you." He smiled. "I love you." He said a bit more serious.

"I love you, too." I said fiercely and kissed him with more vigor.

"I could die, Sookie. You need to be prepared for that." He said reasonably. It made me mad.

"No. If it comes to that, I'll go with you." I fought the red tears, but they forced their way forward, none the less.

He smiled up at me. "You can't follow me anywhere."

"Try everywhere." I said stoney. "I won't let you die alone. I can't do this without you."

"Yes, you can. You're so capable."

"That may be true, but I don't want to do it without you. You're my reason for living as long as I have and I refuse to do it without you! So, don't you dare die on me!"

He reached up with both hands and took my face into them, wiping away the stream of red with his thumbs.

"I'll see what I can do." He smiled at me. "Now, get going on the captive."

"No, I'm staying with you." I argued.

"To what end? Mine? Go. Find out why this happened." He ordered.

I glared at him unhappily.

"Do I have to make you? You can't put everything on hold for me. I know you're scared, but you have to do what you have to do."

I hated it when he was right. I put my lips to his head before walking away without another word.

I entered into the back room of my "panic room." It was more like a hidden apartment, but the back room was also a bomb shelter and housed no pretty things as the rest of the place did. It had solid stone walls and concrete floors. A metal fridge was filled to the brin with true blood and basic supplies were laid about.

A metal table sat in the middle of the room. If you're thinking the kind of table you'd see in a funeral home, you'd be dead accurate. I actually got it from a funeral home that closed down; the owners retired. And strapped to said macabre table, was my captive.

My men had removed his mask and even I was startled by the feral face behind it. His eyes glowed and flickered with a menacing light, really beautiful actually. The colors changed back and forth between red and a somehow ominous purple, but the rest of him appeared to be dead. No, not like me. Like, really dead. Stinking and rotten; bits of his flesh hung from the bone and the smell was enough to gag even a vampire. Eugh!

"What are you?" I fought the stench and held my head high, as a queen should.

"It won't speak, your majesty." One of my men stated.

"Oh, he'll talk to me, Bernard. Won't you?" I asked it confidently.

"Yes." It gurgled in a horrible voice and you could hear the bile rolling around deep in its throat.

Bernard and Greysons' eyes bulged.

"You have a message for me, don't you?" I asked with conviction this time. This attack was a nasty message from...someone.

"Yes. My master wants you to know that we're coming." It growled.

"Who's your master?"

"Well, now that would ruin the surprise."

"Coming for what? Is this a vendetta against me?"

He chuckled at me and the sight of it was disgusting.

"Warm. And then cold again."

"A vendetta." I said slowly and it shook its head along with me as though I were a child sounding out the words.

"But the vendetta isn't against me."

His face lightened up and gasped with astonishment quickly and his sudden movements made my men jump. I held up a hand to tell them to stand steady.

"Against vampires?" I asked, the realization smacking me in the face. "Something or someone wants us gone." My questions turned to understanding.

"Exactly. But not just your little slice of Louisiana, you conceited, puny queen. All vampires! It's time for what is dead to stay dead." He growled.

"Look who's talking." I snarked back.

"We have been brought forth only to put you down." He tightened against his restraints, leaning as far towards me as he could while he spoke. Chills worked their way down my spine.

"Why you? Why did your master do this to you?" I scrunched my brows.

"We have been given an opportunity no others have received."

"And what's that?" I squinted.

"Revenge. Against those who murdered us!" He yelled.

"You were a victim of a vampire." I felt sick.

"We all were." He confirmed.

"You're human?"

"We all were. Once upon a time. Now we kill. For revenge. For our loved ones. For our master."

"Let me guess; your master lost someone to a vampire." He only locked eyes with me in response.

"This is just sick! Bringing people back from the dead to work your will! You're a zombie!"

"Hey!" He objected, which caught me off guard.

"I'd like to think I'm better than a zombie. I can think and I don't eat people. That's you."

"I don't eat peo.. That isn't the issue right now! Who is your master?"

"Never!" He screeched.

"Greyson, the blowtorch, please." I held out my hand.

"You won't! You're too human!" The zombie replied.

I got as close to him as I could without retching.

"You poisoned my husband. Burned my home. Took my friends from me. There is nothing I won't do to you."

I stood back up and took the torch from Greyson and fired it up as my captive continued to talk down to me.

"Your husband is a killer and a monster and has been for a thousand years!"

I put the torch in one hand and put my other hand over his mouth.

"Everyone can be saved! And you don't know the first thing about my husband!"

I fought my human instincts as I put the flame to his chest. It sizzled an reeked and he screamed when it came in contact with him. I stopped, feeling guilt where I knew I shouldn't. That didn't mean I could show it.

"Oh, good. So you do feel pain! It would be a shame if my hand..oh, I don't know, slipped. And burned your dick right off." I said ominously, secretly praying he would just talk.

"Would you be so loyal if I told you your husband is the one who killed me?" He mused.

The torch I had been advancing on him fell back to my side.

"Did he? I asked as though I were stone.

It nodded its head 'yes'.

"But not before he killed my family. Right before my very eyes. I always told my little girl that I would protect her. No matter what... She locked eyes with me and screamed for me as they cut into her. I don't think her spirit shall ever forgive me. I couldn't protect her, couldn't save her. From them."

"Them?"

He nodded. "Eric and his maker."

"Ocella?"

"Yes. That was what they called the monster. After he cut her up, they lapped at her blood before raping her. Also in front of me, in case you were wondering. I was to find her a husband within a year. And my wife.."

He dropped his head and cried. A horrible wailing sound of a spirit in a state of unrest and agony. I dropped the torch. I couldn't help it.

"Ocella looked into my eyes and laughed when he took my wife. Drinking from her and laughing like a maniac while Eric..."

"Eric what?" I almost begged for the answer I knew I didn't want.

"He did nothing! It was almost worse than Ocella! He wouldn't even look at me! Like he wanted to pretend none of it was happening!"

"He probably did." I said as my eyes filled with red.

"Don't try and tell me that he's innocent!" He cried at me.

"I'm not. I'm simply saying that Ocella was horrible and made Eric do disgusting things."

"I didn't see a gun to his head!" It argued.

"Well, no, but vampires have to physically do what their maker tells them. We have no choice. Eric could tell me to lick the floor right now and I'd have to. I doubt that he wanted any part in what happened to you and your family." I knew in my gut, Eric enjoyed bloodshed and sex...to a point.

It's eyes darted around, absorbing my words.

"It makes no difference." He said to himself, deciding. "That fact doesn't make my family any less dead!"

"Nor you." I pointed out. "But I need to know who your master is and what you dosed Eric with."

"I wil not betray my master!"

"I don't get your loyalty. I mean, sure, revenge. Yada, yada. But your master raised you from beyond the grave like a puppet to serve her own purpose. Your own be damned. You can't get revenge, because your time has passed and Ocella is long dead."

"He is?" He asked, his head snapping to attention.

"Yes."

"Did you kill him?" He asked, intrigued.

"No. I really, really wish I had, but no. I'll just have to settle for having witnessed it."

"That must've been a sight. I'm envious." He smiled, disgustingly.

"That it was." I smiled in return. "Please. Give me the information I need."

"What shall I have in return?"

"A quick death." I shrugged. "But if you don't talk, I'm gonna keep you here. As long as need. And I beg of you to remember this; I'm immortal."

He chuckled. "Very well, then. Here's what I'm going to do; I will give you my master, but I will not tell you what I poisoned your husband with, because he did actually kill me. Though it was almost a mercy kill at that point, I want him dead."

Before I could think of how to respond, Greyson came running in.

"Your majesty, we know what the poison is!" He announced.

"You know," I said to my captive. "I'll take that deal." I smiled.

I strode back to Dr. Ludwig.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"It's botulinum. A lot of it."

"Which is the deadliest poison known to man and can drop an elephant quicker than you can say 'quidditch', but why should it bother a vampire?"

My statement clearly surprised the dr. and she raised a brow at me. I read a lot, okay?

"I think they used magics to beef it up, which is why your husband is dying."

"There's an antidote. Right?" I asked. Terrified.

"Not that I'm aware of. However, if you can bring me the one responsible, and they told me what they mixed it with, then I can treat him."

"I thought the poison was mixed with magic." I rattled off.

"It is, but there's something else in the mix. Something that's causing him all this pain. Find the source, eliminate the threat." She nodded.

"How long do I have?" I asked her.

"Oh, I'd say a week, tops. Before it finally kills him. It'll be a long week for him, though."

I thanked, having been given a better time limit than I everhoped and then I went back to my captive.

"So, your master; get talking." I ordered.

"Her name is Cartimandua. She fancies herself as a goddess of sorts. She's powerful, no doubt, but I know not where it comes from. She's holed up in New Orleans. In the palace of a fallen vampire queen, a hundred years dead."

I was both astonished and thankful at how much he was telling me.

"Sophie-Anne?" I asked him.

"That's the one!" His eyes widened in recognition at the name. "The palace of Sophie-Anne Leqlerc. Her and a couple hundred others of my kind have taken over the place."

Sirens blared in the panic room and my men begged me to leave. My captives' eyes grew wide. "She's here!" The place was being overrun, they said.

"Wait! Cartimandua. Why does she hate us?" I asked him, desperate for one final answer.

"I do not know. But she is not human. You seem like a good woman. A good Queen. You'd better run."

Just then, more of the undead burst through the door and sliced off his head without missing a beat on their way to me. It swung and Bernard threw himself in front of me and died on the sword.

Simultaniously, Greyson grabbed my hand for extraction and we ran as he spoke to the others via his wrist. We reached Eric and slammed the door behind us and I grabbed him.

"I can't move my legs, Sookie."

"Can I get a fucking break?" I yelled at the ceiling.

I turned around and saw a wheelchair! "Thank you!" I said gratefully to the ceiling. I grabbed Eric and he put his arms around my neck and I lifted him into the chair.

The door burst open and Greyson threw himself in front of the tiny Dr. Ludwig, but he needn't fear, for it was a friendly face.

"Pam?" Eric and I said together.

She smiled and all covered in blood, she was terrifying. I was sure glad she was on our side.

"Heard you got invaded. Thought I'd pop in." She made a popping motion with her hand and blood dripped from her nails.

"Boy, am I glad to see you!" I said, throwing my arms around my sisters' neck.

She hugged me back and asked what the hell was going on.

"Good question. Someone powerful hates vampires and so she summoned victims of vampires past to wipe us off the face of the Earth."

"What?!" Eric and Pam both asked.

"Yeah. That's pretty much the long and the short of it."

"Well, that fuckin blows. I got your place secured. For now, anyway." Said Pam and I nodded in agreement. "How many ghosts?"

"Many, many thanks for that. Actually, they're closer to zombies and apparently she has armies." I sighed.

"What's her name?" Eric asked suspiciously.

"Cartimandua." I fought to not stumble over the new word and sound stupid.

Eric's eyebrows shot up about six levels.

"Cartimandua? Are you certain?"

"Dead certain. Why? You know her?" I asked.

"No!" He almost laughed. "No one has for thousands of years; she's supposed to be dead!" He said, disbelievingly.

Pam and I only stared. Waiting for an answer.

"Cartimandua was a Queen in the first century of what is now known as Northern England. She was a legend, or so my people thought. Renowned for her ferocity, she was leader of a people- Damn, what were they called?..."

He mused as the banging at the doors started.

"We have to go! The leader of what, Eric?!"

His eyes widened and I saw the answer click in his head. "The Brigantes."

I held his gaze, waiting for him to give up on the joke. My fae royalty of a great, great-grandfather, Grandpa Niall had the surname Brigante. Could Cartimandua be fae? Could she be kin?

The fae did hate vampires quite a lot. We almost wiped them out, once upon a time. Their blood is intoxicating to our kind and they're damn near impossible to resist. They were supposed to all be gone, though. My grandfather sealed off the fae world from our own a hundred years ago. When I was still human.

There were only a couple left now. My cousin Claude who was as dreamy as all get out. Unfortunately, he was as rude as he was beautiful, so lucky for women that he was gay. There was also Claude and I's uncle, Dermot.

I hadn't seen either of them in Several years, so I supposed I couldn't ask them. We sort of cut ties. They smelled too good and they're only half as fond of me as they were when I was alive, but I check up on them every once in a while. Also, Dermot was a dead ringer for my brother Jason when he was young. Jason had only been dead a couple decades and I found it pretty unbearable to look at Dermot right after it happened, so my Uncle swore to give me my space.

I knew it was time to get over that. I needed answers and it sure would be good to see them.

" I guess it's time to talk to your Uncle and your cousin." Pam said, mirroring my thoughts.

"Yeah." I agreed. "Maybe they'll know." At least we knew where we were headed now.

"You highnesses, we should leave." Greyson cut in.

"Get the Doctor." I told him and he scooped up the tiny Ludwig, mich to her distaste.

I grabbed the handles to the wheelchair and pushed Eric toward the emergency exit concealed behind a faux wall.

"I didn't know this was here." Eric stared ip at me accusingly.

"I know, that's what makes it a secret, honey." I kissed him on the head and he smiled at me proudly.

Dawn was coming and I was the only one who could withstand sun rays, so we made our way through the woods as silently as we could with Eric in a wheelchair. We crept through the darkness as our kind does until we made it to a clearing that opened up into what was once my back yard. Yes, I had my mansion built close to my old farm house. I told you, I didn't want to leave my home.

A new generation of Stackhouses lived there now. One of Jason's great grandsons and his family. Earl was a good man, named for my grandfather and his children were all too sweet and called me Aunt Sookie. They kept Eric's wardrobe that housed a cubby and I stayed over sometimes at the kids' request.

Tonight it would do just fine for a hiding place. That's what it was built for, after all.

I used the hidden key and we silently filed through the door. The house was much different than it had been when I lived here and it made my heart ache. I was always reminding myself that I had made changes to the house as well, and that it was in amazing shape, considering that it was now two hundred, fifty years old. The main structure of the house was the only original part and even that had been added to and changed before I was ever born. Old appliances and carpeting had been ripped put and replaced, walls repainted, furniture updated. New gadgets filled the tv stand and a couple of toys had been left out.

One thing that remained were generations of Stackhouses looking down at us from the frames on the walls. They had had new additions, of course and I stopped to look at a picture that was taken only six months before I died. My brother and I stood side by side with our arms around each other. His arm laid across my shoulder with ease and I stretched up on my tippy toes so I could reach his; both of our faces lit up bright with smiles. I missed him every day. Every damn day.

I ushered the Doctor down into the wardrobe with Greyson and I handed Eric down to Pam. Boy, I cannot tell you how bitter he looked being passed between us. I stifled a laugh and then closed the wardrobe closed behind them.

I crept through the house and danced around the creeky floorboard. I looked in on my nephew and his wife who slept peacefully, then I made my way to each one of the kids' rooms and kissed them each on the head. The littlest woke when I did.

"Aunt Sookie!" She smiled up at me.

"Hi, Claudine! I didn't mean to wake you."

"We missed you! Are you staying over?" She wistled on her s's where her front tooth was missing. "I lost a tooth even though I'm only five and daddy said that makes me a big girl!"

"You are!" I stopped to look at her as though she'd grown three feet since I'd last seen her. "I am staying over, so you'll see me in the morning. You'd better get back to sleep, little one." I tucked her in and kissed her on the head.

"But you just said I'm big." She protested.

"You're big, but so very young." I smiled. She looked a bit like me.

"Can we have pancakes in the morning?"

"Of course, you can, but you must sleep now if you want them. Only good girls get pancakes."

She gasped and then closed her eyes studiously and I went to leave.

"Aunt Sookie?"

"Yes, Sweetness?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too, baby. Now go to sleep." I closed the door with a soft click and returned to the others in the cubby.

I slipped into bed with Eric and he pulled me close, circling his arms around me.

"How're the kids doing?" He asked.

"Better than you." I kissed him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, actually. I think the poison has done its' damage. The rest, I can deal with. The sweating and shaking and the paralysis are no walk in the park, but I don't think I'm going to die on you."

"Good. You better not." I replied, meaning every word.

I kissed him again and let my eyes flutter shut, feeling safe in my old home. Tomorrow night, I would see my kin. We would work it all out and Cartimandua would pay for everything she's done. And I would stop at nothing to Verbena her justice.


End file.
